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Their days as Eastern Conference laughingstock are behind, but that still doesn't dull the playoff pain for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Their ache is one of longing, since this team hasn't made the playoffs since 1996. How's this for a prediction: This is the season all that will change.
OK, enough with the jokes.
A contractually happy Vincent Lecavalier is a must-have. A statistically sound Vincent Lecavalier is something the Lightning must see, and haven't. The franchise building block has been all-too inconsistent the past couple of years, and this is the season that he has to step and play like Michael Jordan.
Sorry, enough with the old jokes. Now on to the same old story ...
Nik the Great: His long Phoenix exile a bitter memory, Nikolai Khabibulin went to no-man's land for goaltenders and simply became the best goalie in the league. At times he was a human highlight film, winning games virtually on his own. With a significantly improved defense in front of him, there should be no question that the Lightning can be a stingy team this season. But Khabibulin's history shows a tendency to be streaky, something the offensively undersized Lightning can't afford.
No spend, no score: While not publicized like it is in Pittsburgh and Phoenix, budget belt-tightening is a way of life and playoff death in Tampa. Obviously in need of adding scoring depth -- this club registered just 178 goals last season -- the Lightning merely swung a trade with Philly for Ruslan Fedotenko, a nice young player who nevertheless will never score 30 goals in a season. On top of that, they re-signed a couple of their own, but made little or no open market pursuits. So Lecavalier and diminutive dynamos Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis will still wonder who's going to help them put up points.
Is there anybody out there? When this team played in a tilted saucer in St. Pete, it could and did draw in excess of 25,000 vacationers on the occasional game night. Now in their sparkling Ice Palace, which in the interest of conflicts will be re-named after a local newspaper, the Lightning are happy to draw that many fans in a two-game homestand. If this team doesn't come off its five-year schneid soon, it might start consulting the local major league baseball team about contraction strategies.
Preseason schedule
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DATE
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OPPONENT
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TIME (ET)
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Fri., Sept. 20
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at Atlanta
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7:30 p.m.
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Sat., Sept. 21
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Columbus
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7:30 p.m.
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Tue., Sept. 24
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vs. Carolina at Estero, Fla. (TECO Arena)
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7:30 p.m.
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Wed., Sept. 25
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Carolina
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7:30 p.m.
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Fri., Sept. 27
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at Florida
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7:30 p.m.
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Sat., Sept. 28
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Florida
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7:30 p.m.
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Tue., Oct. 1
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Atlanta
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7:30 p.m.
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Fri., Oct. 4
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at Ottawa
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7 p.m.
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Sat., Oct. 5
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at Toronto
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7 p.m.
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